


Salt Cellar

by CelibateChicken



Series: Make Caelocke Canon, Cowards [1]
Category: Generator Rex
Genre: Just Gatlocke and Rex being petty towards each other, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Origami, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26710777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelibateChicken/pseuds/CelibateChicken
Summary: "You just love hearing yourself talk, don't you?""I also love guiding the next generation, think of me as a mentor of sorts. We can worry about my fees later.""Like I'm gonna take life advice from the pirate who's used me as target practice in the past.""And I'm a great shot! So, the fact that you're still here shows that that was actually friendly fire.""Don't think that's what that means."...Gatlocke and Caesar are dating, and Rex is not happy about it.
Relationships: Gatlocke & Rex Salazar, Gatlocke/Caesar Salazar
Series: Make Caelocke Canon, Cowards [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1374061
Kudos: 12





	Salt Cellar

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for a writing event on the Generator Rex Amino. Also, I haven't written anything in forever so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“What’s your deal with my brother?”

Groaning, Gatlocke made a show to roll his eyes far into the back of his head before answering, “You know, at first, this overprotective little brother schtick was endearing and rather hilarious, but lately, you’ve just been more of a headache. That being said, I’m after his money, of course.”

Turning away from the fuming EVO, Gatlocke focused on the blank sheet of paper in front of him, using the sharp edge of his thumb to cut it into an even, white square.

"Then, why don't you go mooch off of some rich billionaire in LA or Australia? You know, just somewhere else far, far away from here?"

“But then, I couldn’t spend time with my favorite future brother-in-law, could I?”

“EW! Don’t call me that,” Rex shuddered, “Ever.”

This would now mark today as the 3rd time this month that Rex had found Gatlocke loitering in Caesar’s lab. Time after time, he has somehow managed to sneak past Providence’s security systems and supposedly well-trained guards without detection, and there was no doubt that Caesar, with his own history of breaking into the military base, was somehow to blame for this repeated phenomenon. Though, the scientist has played ignorant to this accusation. It had gotten to the point that Rex had begun to lose hope that Gatlocke’s presence would not become a regular occurrence.

Unattended, the pirate sat at his brother’s workbench with some loose pens and papers on hand. Disappointed but not surprised, the younger Salazar stalked over and crossed his arms, reminiscent of a disapproving parent, sharing a couple of petty remarks before asking, "Where is my brother?"

“He went off to grab some science thingamajig…” Gatlocke answered, distracted, as he folded the corners of the paper to meet at opposite sides, taking extra care as he pressed down and unfolded until the sheet was left with diagonal creases, “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t forget about me. I’m sort of his everything, you know?”

Rex gagged in reply.

In the past, he had never really considered his brother as someone interested in dating. Assuming him to be the "married to his job" type, this was Caesar "she is very smart" Salazar, the same guy who saw romance as nothing more than a chemical reaction in a science experiment. He'd sooner build himself a girlfriend than go out on a date, let alone leave his lab at all.

Now, Caesar was dating Gatlocke.

It was like something straight out of his telenovelas. His very own family gets together with one of his worst enemies in an unexpected twist of events, pulling off the ultimate betrayal against his own flesh and blood.

Okay, well, to be fair, it is not like this was the first time that his brother had gotten involved with Rex’s enemies, and this definitely was not the first time that Caesar had betrayed his trust. That being said, out of all of Rex’s nemeses, the one that he chose to go out with was arguably second to Van Kleiss as the least sane of them all. What was Caesar thinking??

One thing’s for sure, though, is that he definitely didn't know what Gatlocke was thinking. For all Rex knew, he was just using his brother to gain access to Providence resources and secret tech to sell to the highest bidder! Just because Caesar had him "promise" to stop trying to kill Rex daily does not mean that he still wasn’t a pirate anymore.

Since then, the teen had chosen to keep a close eye on the two of them whenever Gatlocke was around, acting as what the criminal described as “their trigger-happy chaperone”. He didn’t know what his endgame was, but he was going to find out, even if that meant interrogating his older brother’s boyfriend with a pair of his Smack Hands.

Ugh.

Just thinking about calling him that made Rex nauseous.

Growingly frustrated, Rex watched as the pirate continued to work on… “What are you even doing?”

“Making Origami,“ Gatlocke tsked, folding the four corners of the sheet into the center as the paper took the form of a smaller square before he flipped the paper over and repeated the process, “Otherwise known as the traditional Japanese art of paper folding.”

"I know what Origami is," Rex huffed, "Just never seen a paper crane like that."

“Actually, it is a Cootie Catcher. Maybe you've heard of it?” Gatlocke snorted as he folded all four corners up until the points met in the middle, “We used to make these all the time in primary school.”

"You used to make…?"

Gatlocke, filling in squares on his paper with colored pens, paused to look up at Rex, almost offended, “Do you really not know what a Cootie Catcher is?”

“Sounds weird.”

“A Salt Cellar? A Chatterbox? A Whirlybird?”

“Ha, is that what they used to call you in high school?”

Other than tossing a discarded highlighter at the boy’s face, Gatlocke went on, “I can use it to tell your fortune!” 

About the size of his hand, it was shaped like pincers with four faces, each scribbled in with a primary color. Gatlocke worked his index fingers and thumbs into the pockets of their respective four corners, holding it out to Rex.

"Pick a color."

“Why?”

“It’s part of how I tell your fortune. Now, pick a color.”

Rex debated with himself. It was just a dumb, little paper trick. Would it be worth it to humor the guy? The worst that could happen is that they end up fighting, and any excuse to toss him off the roof is a good one. He sighed in resignation, “Red, I guess.”

Spelling “R-E-D” aloud, Gatlocke switched between keeping two pairs of corners together with each letter. Rex watched with mild fascination.

"Now, say a number."

“I don’t know, 7?”

“1, 2, 3…” After repeating the process of switching corner pairs, Gatlocke held it out, again, "Now, pick a side."

Rex glanced down: presented with the inside of the Cootie Catcher, there were four triangular-shaped "walls", respective right angles meeting in the center with no one more distinct than the next. He pointed to a random corner with a shrug.

Unfolding the selected corner, Gatlocke peered inside, “Hm, it says here that: A light heart carries you through all the hard times.”

“...Okay? What does that mean?”

“It is a fortune, Rex. You’re supposed to interpret it yourself and use it to influence your decisions in the future.”

“There was nothing written inside. You just made that up just now!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but, nevertheless, I think that you could do yourself some good and take the wise advice of this Whirlybee.”

“That’s ‘Whirlybird’.”

“So, you were listening, then?” 

Rex rolled his eyes, a sarcastic reply on the tip of his tongue before Gatlocke continued.

“You know, what with the whole child soldier thing and the amnesiac orphan dilemma and whatnot in your soap opera of a life, you too could potentially lose that sunny Salazar disposition of yours.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing, really. Just some genuine advice from your future-"

"Don't you dare."

"All I'm saying is that everyone needs something, or someone, or someones, to help them get through when things go downhill. I'm sure you have your green FBI agent or that emotional support monkey of yours, or maybe you just like punching things. Could be a person, a hobby, your favorite boy band, or even maybe a teddy bear that you keep, secretly. Whatever teenage EVOs are into nowadays."

"You just love hearing yourself talk, don't you?"

"I also love guiding the next generation, think of me as a mentor of sorts. We can worry about my fees later."

"Like I'm gonna take life advice from the pirate who's used me as target practice in the past."

"And I’m a great shot! So, the fact that you're still here shows that that was actually friendly fire."

"Don't think that's what that means."

"Oh, I think it does."

Rex shook his head. No sense in arguing, "What's yours then? I’m guessing you got a treasure chest full of gold coins that you count at night?" 

"What keeps my heart light?” Gatlocke shrugged, a knowing smile on his face, “Well, I have Caesar, of course."

Rex scoffed. Gross. What was this guy’s game? Giving him advice, gushing over his brother, teaching him about schoolyard games, it all felt like a build-up for Gatlocke to turn around and drop a punchline or even an actual punch. 

Maybe Rex was just looking for a fight? Not every day that he was forced to make nice with a nemesis like this, so used to throwing hands with them that a less volatile situation felt like a trick or something that wouldn’t last for long. The guy was just kinda nuts, doing things for the thrill of it rather than something more conniving like Van Kleiss or Rex’s other enemies would. 

Then, sneaking into Caesar’s lab just to do origami and, what, talk to his brother about whatever, occasionally dragging him into his desert antics for the hell of it? He’s doing it just because he actually likes Caesar?

The thought of Gatlocke having feelings… Weird.

Rex was brought out of his pondering by a loud clanging sound; looking up, he saw that the other had brought his hands together, resulting in an obnoxious, metal clap. Wearing that familiar screwy grin, all semblance of maturity was gone as he picked the tiny paper Cootie Catcher back up in his bionic hands, “Okay, let’s do another! Pick a color.”

A smirk pulled at Rex’s face, “Razzmatazz.”

For the teenager, Gatlocke’s twitch of annoyance made it worth having to sit through several seconds of defiant, unbroken eye contact as the pirate slowly spelled out R-A-Z-Z-M-A-T-A-Z-Z.

“Alright, give me a number - BETWEEN 1 AND 20.”

“19.667.”

“20, it is.”

As Gatlocke began counting, Rex couldn't help but ask, "So, this is what I've been missing out on at public schools?"

"You and your friends can also find out if you're going to live in a mansion, apartment, shack, or house, in the future with this other game."

"Probably will just still be here," Rex replied, "Or a mansion would be cool."

"You never know what the future holds, Rex! One moment, you’re studying for your LSATs, and the next, your arms are metal, and you're sneaking through a clandestine military’s secret underground entrance." 

“Right…” While initially getting lost in a fantasy of jacuzzis and home-arcades at his future mansion, Rex started to wonder about apartments and humbler houses and dormitories on college campuses. He started to wonder about grocery shopping, block parties, being neighbors with Noah, working at a minimum wage cafe, only having to worry about grades and rent. Doesn't sound so bad.  
"This one."

“Mmhmm, I see…” Flipping over the selected corner, Gatlocke read over the blank space with a contemplating expression, “It says that your brother and I are destined. We are to go to the zoo tomorrow, and we're going to release all the animals from their cages. Afterward, get some frozen yogurt. Oh, but don't tell him that part - it’s a surprise. Have to keep things spontaneous, you know?"

Disgusted, Rex snatched the Cootie Catcher away, crumpling the origami into a ball, and throwing it at the pirate's face who dodged it with ease, laughing to himself, "What are you even talking about??"

"Well, he isn't a fan of frozen yogurt; he thinks that it's a worse version of ice cream. Of course, that just goes to show that even geniuses can be wrong-"

“How does talking to you not drive him crazy?!” Rex didn’t know if he felt like tearing out his own hair or Gatlocke’s.

“Ah, probably because he is already crazy,” the Anarchist hummed, giving his chair a spin and running over his ruined Cootie Catcher, “Crazy for me, that is.”


End file.
